Northcoast Prep student group honors victims of Parkland shooting

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Students from Northcoast Preparatory Academy lead the opening memorial dedicated to victims of the Feb. 14, 2018, Parkland, Florida, school shooting for a forum on gun violence at the First United Methodist Church in Arcata, Monday night. (Robert Peach — The Times-Standard)

A small group of Northcoast Preparatory Academy students began a community-wide conversation on gun violence Monday night at the First United Methodist Church in Arcata with a tearful memorial for the Parkland, Florida, school shooting victims, reading aloud names and brief character descriptions of the 17 students and staff members who died in last year’s massacre at the Marjory Douglas Stoneman High School on Feb. 14 and lighting a candle for each.

The forum, sponsored by the Humboldt Interfaith Fellowship, featured an opening address from Arcata resident Jennifer Heidmann, medical director of Redwood Coast Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elder, also known as PACE, and doctor of internal medicine, who spoke to the need for addressing the gun violence issue in this country as a “solvable” public health problem.

Citing statistics which show there were more than 300 mass shootings in the United States in 2018 and 40,000 gun-related deaths, including suicide and homicide, Heidmann devised an analogy to “demystify” and “de-emotionalize” the national crisis.

“Just pretend we were here tonight talking about M&Ms that were poisoned and 40,000 people died of them last year. What would we do as a society about that? Probably take them off the shelves and figure out what the poison was and not put M&Ms back on the counter until they were safer,” Heidmann said. “It’s just common sense.”

As a doctor who deals with gun wounds and suicidal patients, Heidmann feels that she and the rest of the medical community have high stakes in the issue. A statement published in Annals of Internal Medicine that advocated for a ban on assault weapons, heightened background checks, safety features on handguns and community dialogue generated backlash from the National Rifle Association, she said.

We were told to stay in our lane, she said, “But it is our lane.”

A series of breakout discussions ensued including a discussion on the role of hunters in wildlife conservation and in addressing gun violence; a creative writing session modeled after the Judeo-Christian biblical prophet Isaiah; and a conversation around Humboldt County’s new shooting ordinance, passed by the Board of Supervisors in 2018.

To conclude, lifetime member of the NRA and Eureka resident Byrd Lochtie, whose dad gave her a membership when she was a teenager participating in target shooting competitions and working at riflery program in the Adirondacks, talked about the ways in which she keeps the NRA accountable to responsible gun legislation.

Noting the NRA was originally oriented toward gun safety and eventually the curbing of criminal behavior through gun control, she said the ’80s and ’90s witnessed “a change in focus … to protect all gun ownership,” politicizing the issue in ways that have made it “polarized and divisive.”

“As a Life Member, I pay no dues and I never donate to any of their requests for money,” Lochtie said. “What I do is send a letter or tell them on the phone exactly what I think of their current political stance, and ask that they reconsider their platform. … I tell them I hope to see the NRA return to providing safety programs and sensible legislation to protect all Americans.”

According to Lochtie, the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research showed in a recent survey that 80 percent of Americans, gun owners and non-owners alike, support the implementation of policies such as universal background checks and improved reporting of mental health records for background checks. The survey also showed there is a lack of research on firearms, making it difficult to implement effective gun measures.

Omega Gaskill, a junior at Northcoast Prep who also took part in the opening memorial for the Parkland victims, said she attended the forum because of a concern for future generations of young people.

Her schoolmates echoed her.

“I have three young siblings and I want to have a voice in the world they grow up in,” said Sophia Stenger, also a Northcoast junior.

A common thread running through the evening’s discussion was the need for finding “common ground” on an issue about which more Americans are in agreement than disagreement.

“The best way to foster change is to talk to someone with a different opinion than yours, figure out why and find some middle ground,” said Killeen Cypress, a senior at Northcoast Prep, “because that’s the only way that progress can be made.”

To hear “Blood on Your Hands,” a recording by Rabbi Naomi Steinberg of Temple Beth El in Eureka, Ca, written with her son Berel Alexander in memory of the Parkland 17 and produced with backing vocals from the temple choir, played after the student-led memorial, visit: www.meaningfulmusic.com.